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fire. and in south carolina a brush fire has spread to a housing complex damaging dozens of buildings. all right. get your brackets ready. college basketball's most exciting time of the year, it is here. march madness kicking off with 68 teams vying for the championship. going to show you how to join the cnn bracket challenge in just a little bit. this is cnn "newsroom." i'm suzanne malveaux. up ahead, cyber attacked on a florida election is raising alarms about security at the voting systems across the country. so this attack involved more than 2,500 phantom requests for absentee ballots during the august primary. our chris lawrence who has been digging into this. chris, what do we know, election officials now being able to detect that something happened, something was wrong. how did they do that? >> basically two things really jumped out at them, suzanne. they looked at two things. one, the fact that all of these requests were coming from what looked like the same computers.

also, they were coming in so quickly they figured no human being could enter that much information that quickly. those were two big red flags. then they started to look further and determine that the internet -- the i.p. addresses of these computers were blocked. once investigators were able to dig in and look at them, it turned out that all of these i.p. addresses were going through what's called an anonmiser. in india and the uk sort of a way to wash your tracks on the internet. so you can never figure out exactly where what real computers these requests for coming from. but ultimately what it boils down to is about 2,000 to 3,000 phony requests for these absentee ballots. when they actually called some of these folks to say, hey, did you ask an online absentee ballot, the folks told them, i don't have any idea what you're talking about. >> chris, who was behind this? can they tell was this some

attempt at effecting the election results? somebody trying to test the system? what was behind it, do you know? >> it was definitely the first documented cyber attack on an online election system, suzanne. but as to who did it and why and what their motivations were, impossible to tell 100% because, again, these anonmisers wash your tracks. it was the reason they couldn't even really pursue a criminal investigation because they can never track back to see exactly where the computer originated from, no track to follow, nothing to do. that's one of the scary things about this kind of crime. >> yeah. so i guess they're discovering too there are holes, right, in the security system when it comes to elections because they're vulnerable to cyber attack? >> yeah, that's right. here in d.c. a couple years ago d.c. tested just as a test an online voting system and the testers were able to hack into that system and take control of it within about 48 hours. it just shows the vulnerabilities. in this case in florida they're

already being recommendations made that you need to have a log in and password to get into this system to be able to request that absentee ballot. but i think as you talk to some computer experts like we have this morning, it just shows the security is going to have to stay, you know, really far ahead. >> sure. >> because this was considered an attack that wasn't all that sophisticated. they said a more sophisticated attack probably would not have been caught. >> wow. okay. lessons learned there. thank you, chris. appreciate it. >> yep. arizona, that is where the jodi arias trial back in session today. the jury is hearing once again from dr. richard samuels who is testifying on behalf of arias. now, he says even though arias admits killing her ex-boyfriend travis alexander, she suffers from ptsd. so she can't remember any of those details. our ted rowlands is covering the trial from phoenix. and, ted, i understand that the judge is expected to rule soon on an issue that is related to

dr. samuel's testimony. what is that about? >> yeah, we're going to have a hearing in just a couple minutes, suzanne. basically the defense in this case want dr. samuels to testify about what a crime scene can tell you about a crime, whether it was premeditated or if it was an act of passion. the defense believes that the crime scene is evidence that this is an act of passion because it was so messy, if you will. and they want samuels to talk about it. the prosecution says that is completely nonsense that this guy is not, a, qualified to do it. and there's nothing really there, it's junk science. so the judge will hear from both sides in the next 15 minutes and expected to rule from the defense, so the direct testimony can resume whether or not the judge will allow this part of it in we'll find out very soon. >> ted, before we get any kind of rulings at all, there is buzz now, not surprising, of a tv movie that is actually in the works. what do we know about that? >> yes, well, what we don't know is what it would be rated given all the graphic testimony in this case. >> no kidding. >> we know lifetime -- yeah,

lifetime is making a movie about this. a made for tv movie, the jodi arias trial. they're in works on that. they've done this before. they did it with the drew peterson case, rob lowe was in that and they have one coming out in a couple weeks on the casey anthony case. rob lowe ironically is also in that one. we'll have to see what role he'd play in this one if he is, but bottom line getting terrific ratings on television and makes perfect sense to exploit that and make a tv movie out of it. >> not surprising at all. ted, thank you. appreciate it. in orlando this morning police discovered a bag of homemade bombs, an assault weapon, a handgun, and a man they say killed himself in a dorm room at university of central florida. police were responding to reports of a person with a gun shortly after midnight. what they found was a student dead of an self-inflicted gunshot wound in his room next to a bag of explosives. kelly cook of central florida news 13 joining us live from

orlando. kelly, what do we know about this? what have we learned? >> well, riegtd now they're not saying much about the student found dead with a self-inflicted gun wound just that he's a male and a student here at the university of florida. the orange county sheriff's office and campus police and fbi trying to figure out what he was doing with those ieds, handguns and assault weapon. campus opened right around noon to students here on campus, however, that dorm room, tower 1 right there where we're pointing to you right now, remains closed at this hour. and we're not quite sure, suzanne, where they're going to reopen it again. back to you. >> kelli, what do they say about this student? do they have any idea of why he would have these explosives in his room or if it was any connection at all to any particular groups or something he was involved in? >> sure. they are being very quiet and very tight-lipped about what they know about this student. a lot of rumors rolling around

as i talk to students, but nothing that is official. what we know is a call came in to campus police for a fire alarm and somebody with a gun on campus. they immediately evacuated the area and transported them to the student union until they found out more information. suzanne. >> all right. kelli, thank you. appreciate it. at least 43 homes remain evacuated near the site of that fatal plane crash in south bends, indiana, sunday. a small corporate jet slammed into a row of single story homes. two of the four people aboard that plane died on impact. the two others were injured. and there was another person who was actually on the ground. neighbors say it was just unbelievable. >> it was surreal. you could see the whole house was just -- a plane was inside a whole house. and i could see part of the second house -- the back part of it from where i was standing i could see it was taken out. >> the pilot had radioed for help, was trying to circle back

to a local airport when that plane crashed. investigators are looking into a fiery crash in ft. lauderdale, florida. late friday afternoon a twin engine piper crashed into a parking lot full of cars killing all three people on board. and here's also what we're working on for this hour. president obama just hours away from flying to israel for the first time since he's been in office. i want to take a look at why this trip is important from middle east peace to iran nuclear worries. and a very emotional moment in the courtroom as two high school football players are sentenced for rape. >> i had no intention to do anything like that. i'm sorry to put you guys through this. i'd just like to -- >> going to take a look at this crime and how it is impacting one ohio community.

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incident profane and ugly. our poppy harlow was in the court from the very beginning. >> hi there, suzanne. as you know this case has put the town of stuebenville, ohio, and the victims in the spotlight for months now. the judge has finally rendered his final decision for all to hear. the mother of the 16-year-old victim spoke out for the first time since trent mays and malik richmond rained her daughter saying this after court ended. >> it did not matter what school you went to, what city you lived in or what sports you've played, human compassion is not taught by a teacher, coach or parent. it is a god given gift instilled in all of us. you displayed not only a lack of this compassion, but a lack of any moral code. your decisions that night affected countless lives including those most dear to you. you were your own accuser through the social media you chose to publish your criminal conduct on. this does not define who my daughter is. she will persevere, grow and

move on. i have pity for you both. i hope you fear the lord, repent for your actions and pray hard for his forgiveness. >> reporter: the convicted rapists, both teenage boys showing remorse after being found guilty. >> would like to apologize to [ bleep ], my family, your family, the community. >> i would like to apologize to you. i had no intentions to do anything like that. and i'm sorry to put you through this. i'd just like -- i'm sorry. i ruined her entire life. >> the 16-year-old girl was raped during a series of late-night parties in august when she was drunk. >> the court is able to review the demeanor of witnesses, judge their credibility and weigh the

evidence presented to the court. the court has done so in this case. and it is the court's decision that both of the defendants are hereby adjudicated delinquent beyond a reasonable doubt on all three counts as charged. >> malik richmond sentenced to a minimum of one year in a juvenile correction facility for rape. trent mays to a minimum of two years, guilty of rape and of taking and distributing an illegal nude photograph of the victim. both mays and richmond will also have to register as juvenile sex offenders. prosecutors said the girl was so intoxicated she wasn't capable of consenting to anything. >> this case is about a 16-year-old girl who was taken advantage of, toyed with and humiliated. and it's time that the people who did that to her are held responsible. >> eyewitness testimony from three teenage boys, all friends

of mays and richmond, and all granted immunity from criminal prosecution, was damaging. one witness saying he videotaped mays performing a sexual act on the girls during a car ride between parties. two others testified they saw richmond do the same later that night while she was lying naked on the floor. in the state of ohio, this act performed without consent constitutes rape. >> there seems to be an unbelievable casualness about rape and about sex. it's a cavalier attitude. a belief that somehow there isn't anything wrong with any of this. >> text messages, tweets and photos were at the center of the trial. fellow teens joked about the rape, song of the night is definitely rape me by nirvana. >> if that was my daughter, i wouldn't care. i would just let her be dead.

>> witnesses read text messages including this one about the victim from trent mays to a friend. >> yeah, dude, she was just like a dead body. i just needed some sexual attention. there was no jury. it was a bench trial with judge lipps. the court also undergo treatment while they are doing time to ensure they do not commit another sex crime. and on top of that the ohio attorney general's office announced after the verdict came down that it will be convening a grand jury here in stuebenville to determine whether or not any other crimes such as tampering with evidence or any other crimes was committed in relation to this rape. suzanne. >> thank you, poppy. the rape case has divided this town as you can imagine. what are the parents doing? what are the lessons for some of those parents as well? watch piers morgan live at 9:00 eastern. he's going to be covering that. and tomorrow is the tenth anniversary of the beginning of

the iraq war. we're going to look at one former u.s. marine how he is struggling now that he has returned. >> act like it never happened. >> had basically gone through a horrifying experience, traumatic experience. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria.

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president obama's set to leave tomorrow on his first trip to israel as president. he's going to meet with the new

israeli government and also make stops in the west bank and in jordan as well. the president is facing a skeptical israeli public and perhaps a strained relationship with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. athena jones has a preview of the president's trip and what he hopes to accomplish. >> reporter: five years after he visited israel as a candidate, president obama is going through to reassure skeptical israelis about where he stands on iran. >> i have been crystal clear about my position on iran possessing a nuclear weapon. that is a redline for us. it's something that would not only be dangerous for israel but would be dangerous for the world. >> reporter: while he says all options are on the table to stop iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, the president also wants to convince israeli leaders to allow more time for diplomacy. >> what we're going to be doing is continuing to engage internationally with iran understanding that we've set up the toughest sanctions ever. it's having a significant

effect. >> reporter: a tough sell analysts say when israel believes iran is closer to a nuclear weapon than the u.s. does. and the tense relationship between the countries' leaders doesn't help. >> president obama and prime minister netanyahu have had a strained relationship for the last four years. it's difficult to see, but this visit is going to change the underlying dynamic in that relationship. >> here at home president obama putting the finishing touches on his cabinet. today he nominated assistant u.s. attorney thomas perez to be the next labor secretary. if he's confirmed by the senate, perez would be the only hispanic cabinet choice. he's the son of dominican immigrants and worked his way through college doing various jobs. and reminder to watch cnn's new show "the lead with jake tapper" starting today at 4:00 eastern. tomorrow marks the tenth anniversary of the start of the iraq war. the question of course, was it worth it? depends on who you ask.

thousands of u.s. families suffered immeasurable loss. according to the pentagon more than 4,400 u.s. troops were killed in action. for every u.s. combat death 7 were wounded. more than 32,000 americans came home with battle wounds. and we know not all battle wounds are physical. many troops came home with post-traumatic stress disorder which made it really hard to adjust to normal life. one is james miller. his battle wary face photographed by "los angeles times." now, cinco caught up with miller years later. and what you're going to see is how the marine left the war and then the war was not able to leave him. >> i find myself involved in the assault in faluja in november. >> to look back now and think about firing on a human being, sufficiented. >> we were up on the rooftop and in a break in the action he

propped up next to me and started smoking a cigarette. i took the photo. >> i tried to act like it never happened. >> it shows a kid that basically had just gone through a horrifying experience, traumatic experience. >> the first time i ever thought about committing suicide was in iraq maybe a week after we came out. >> i did not see him for a good year after felugia. his company was deployed to katrina. i did not know he was suffering from ptsd. >> vets connect with other vets. i didn't have another vet i could lean on. >> when i was there for the first visit he said you should come to my wedding. so i ended up going to his wedding because he was so emotional for him. within a two, three-week period he was completely spinning out of control. >> there was so much counselling

that had to be done for myself that really couldn't deal with jessica's problems on top of it. >> his wife ended up calling me saying she hadn't seen him in days, could i come help look for him. >> i felt it was something that i brought on myself and that that was, you know, my weight to carry. not hers. and before i put her through that, i'd rather be without her. >> i went to his uncle's house. he looked horrible. >> i had more or less planned out my death. and i was actually kind of happy for a moment thinking that i wasn't going to feel anything soon. >> there was a lot of carnage in that battle. there were a lot of young men, bo boys dead in the street and i thought one more death out of that. am i supposed to hang out enough to get the photo of him putting the gun to his head? i cannot do that. so i stepped in and said let's get you some help. >> i'm glad that i'm still here.

confused as to why i'm still here. and why other people still aren't. >> he was intensely private now. he had been under the spotlight for many, many years beginning with the publication of that photo. i think he just wants to move on. >> as much as you want things to be the same, they can never be that way again. >> he is doing all right. he is back together with jessica. he's met a doctor that has helped him with his physical problems. and actually gained enough trust from blake to have blake see a doctor about his mental issues. >> any day aboveground is a good one. there's no promise of tomorrow. >> it's going on nine years since i took that photograph. there hasn't been a day that it hasn't crossed my mind. the meaning that i find in it is that it's about survival. i mean, when you survive that, that's the sweetest victory.

>> that is so touching. cnn interviewed "los angeles times" photographer for the story and the comments from former marine blake miller are from a 2010 "los angeles times" media storm online documentary. it's important to know blake has declined all further interviews from the media, but he made sure blake was not opposed to actually using his earlier interviews and stories surrounding this tenth anniversary of the war. firefighters in four states fighting off flames right now from south carolina to colorado we're going to look at all the damage up next.

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winter going out back in the eastern half of the u.s. today blizzard warnings in effect from north dakota through southern minnesota and into iowa. this after the snowplows were in full force just last week after hitting ohio. the storm takes aim at the east coast, maryland to new england could actually see some wet snow

or some sleety mix. spring officially however begins on wednesday. and wildfire season off to an early dangerous start in several states. the national guard is helping fight this massive wildfire. this is in pigeon forge, tennessee. a state of emergency has been declared in that resort town. about 30 cabins have already been destroyed. propane tanks have been exploding. the fire actually started in a house. now, near myrtle beach, south carolina, raging brush fire gobbled up an entire community, about 26 apartments were destroyed over the weekend. dry and windy weather being blamed for the flames that are spreading there. and in colorado's larimer county, hundreds of homeowners were allowed back into their home but told to be ready to evacuate again if the fire kicks up. cold air and snow helping firefighters get a handle on that one as well. officials say this fire was intentionally set. the wildfire, dry conditions, high winds creating a deadly

mix. how bad is all of this? it's going to be taking the east coast. bring in chad myers to tell us what do we expect on both fronts. first the blizzard. >> the blizzard is coming. there's going to be snow again in concord, in manchester, in parts of boston. boston, tomorrow you'll wake up to snow but changes over to rain at least part of the day. and it changes back over to snow as the storm exits. so it's just warm enough to make rain for a while. but here's the blizzard conditions from minneapolis out toward bismarck and into the dakotas this is where the snow is right now. winds are blowing 50 or 60 miles per hour. it's the same winds that really fueled those fires in colorado just in a different state making a different outcome making snow instead of the fire. back to boston, not so much the cape, about five inches on the ground tomorrow as you wake up. some schools could be canceled. that will change back over to rain but will not in vermont, new hampshire, maine, it will stay snow the entire time. it's already in parts of du bois, parts of pittsburgh, higher elevations seeing the

snow. you will take a look at these colors, 10, 12 and 20. there are spots in the green or white mountains where we will see 20 inches of new snow. think about how much snow some of these places have had. now, i have friends who have a cabin in killington and they try to rent it out and there's been so little snow for so many years they're very happy there's no this year they can rent the cabins and skiers don't have to fly all the way to utah or colorado where there's snow. finally good news for people affected by irene and sandy and everything else, when you want to play in it, sometimes can be good news. >> yeah, good news. you have fire news as well. fire is pretty dangerous. >> they are. it's the same storm system. but what we've had for so many years is the drought in the west. the drought has fueled the fires. all the timber is dead. all of the stuff is dead. there's so many trees killed because of the pine beetle out there. so from nebraska through kansas into colorado and all the way through wyoming, utah, new

mexico, this could be a very deadly i want to say because it's going to go that far. we're just getting the winds and wildfire starts. we had almost 12 million acres last year. could be a bigger year this year. could be a really, really bad season. >> and spring right around the corner, huh, chad? >> we hope so. that's what punxsutawney phil said and then all of a sudden the snowstorms and another one coming. i don't know where phil has been but he went back and is staying in there until spring really comes. >> you can't believe him. all right. thank you, chad. >> you're welcome. exciting ten-day rally on wall street now coming to an end. and, today, a tiny country causing big problems for the world economy. up next. the capital one cash rewards card gives you 1% cash back on all purchases plus a 50% annual bonus. and everyone wants... ♪ 50% more doo wop ♪ 50% more buckarooooooooos ♪ 50% more yeeeaaahhhh!!!! ♪ 50% more yeah yeah [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card gives you 1% cash back on every purchase,

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i've got nine grams of protein. that's three times more than me! [ female announcer ] ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. could be another financial crisis brewing in europe. this time it is the tiny country of cyprus that actually needs a bailout. people there, they are fuming because the rescue plan could actually cost them as much as 10% of the money that they have in the bank. so what does it have to do with us? our dow lower right out of the gate this morning than usual. i want to bring in zane asher. >> we saw an initial knee-jerk reaction this morning. the dow tumbled 110 at the open but bounced back. trading slightly lower right now. the effect is nowhere near dramatic as the oversea market. in asia we saw the nikkei, hang

sang and shanghai lose 1.7% or more. american investors have been bullish as we all know lately. and it's going to take more than that to turn this around. make no mistake this is a big deal for residents of cyprus with money in the banks. this is like the monster of all fees. basically banks holding your money hostage. cyprus citizens who have $129,000 in the bank could have almost $9,000 taken out if they're indeed taxed at 6.75%. unlike greece they're not going to be seeing things like wages and pensions cut. so if this does happen in cyprus, it's going to be sort of quick and painful one-time event instead of a more prolonged agony, suzanne. >> are u.s. investors concerned about the possibility of a ripple effect? is that basically the idea? because cyprus is so small they could see this in many other places? >> exactly. that's what they're concerned about right now. europe is one of our biggest trading partners. if cyprus's situation starts to

effect other european countries, that could easily ripple over to the u.s. and effect a stock rally that so many of us have profited from in our mutual funds, retirement plans and so on. one analyst says markets are calm for now but things could get bad quickly if this combines with any future crisis in the eurozone. we'll see what happens with the vote tomorrow. stocks seem to be mostly holding their own here. we're not seeing too much panic, suzanne. >> okay. that's good. zain, thank you. appreciate it. so the question is, do you think you got your job because of the school you went to? there's actually a new study that says where you went to school matders less than it used to. starting at a two-year college for example can save a lot of money. in today's smart is new rich we show you how a community college degree can provide the ticket to the middle class. >> i didn't realize why i liked i.t. or where it was going. >> ethan chose a two-year degree in liberal arts at the borrough of manhattan community college.

>> i thought it would be a great place to find my direction. >> he ended up finding a lot more than that. his degree landsed him a job in the college's computer center and later a promotion. >> i was making $62,000. i felt pretty good about how things went even without having a bachelor's degree. >> ethan is one of many community college graduatings proving that a four-year university isn't the only gateway to the middle class. according to a georgetown university study, 28% of americans with associates degrees make more than those with bachelor's degrees. >> associates degrees are for fast starters. >> and that's exactly what it was for ethan. a start. he went onto get his bachelor's degree on his employer's tab. >> because of my role working for them they were able to waive the tuition. >> his salary now $76,000. not a bad return on a $10,000 investment. his sister chose a different path, an expensive masters degree from new york university.

>> she went and biology and opting more into wanting to teach. so pretty expensive way to switch gears. >> i didn't have to provide -- >> enrollment at community colleges spiked during the recession, now it's beginning to fall as the economy improves. but tuition at four-year colleges is rising. the job market is still struggling and student loan debt is skyrocketing. >> attending a community college and getting an associate's degree is a more practical decision. >> so if you're trying to trim your college costs, start with community college. >> where you went to school m matters less and less. >> learn a practical in demand skill like computer science. and see if your employer will chip-in. >> that was essential to help me finishing my bachelors. >> christine roman, cnn, new york. the republican party says it wants to end -- a bunch of stuffy old men how republicans

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after months of soul searching, republicans today released their plan to give this party a makeover. the rnc chairman says the party needs to address its problems of getting its message across. this new thinking started after mitt romney's loss to president obama in the november election. so what is the grand plan? mark preston joining us. mark, do you know? they say they don't want to have an image of stuffy old men, is that it? >> that is it. let the recalibration begin, suzanne. you know, you and i have heard this time and time again after every presidential election you hear the losing political party talk about how they need to change their message. but reince priebus, who is the chairman of the republican national committee, suzanne, says that he has really got to recalibrate what they're doing. he spent the last several months right now putting together a proposal that would not only overhaul the mechanics of how republicans pick their presidential nominee, but would also overhaul the message. he's talking about spending $10

million and dedicating that money to put people on the ground, paid workers in the communities such as african-american communities, hispanic communities, to try to recruit voters. they got clobbered in the november elections amongst hispanic voters and african-american, suzanne. a lot of work to do for the republican party. >> mark, are they planning on actually having african-american republicans or latino republicans do that recruiting to put those folks out there? to try to attract more? >> yeah. no doubt that's what they're telling us because they said they need people in the community. you know, one of the big criticisms that you get certainly from african-americans and you hear with the democratic party as well is that they parachute into these communities a few months before the election and they expect their vote. but now reince priebus says that they've learned a lot from the obama campaign where obama put people in these communities, they lived there, they worked there. and they tried to get them to support them. of course, democrats are very successful back in november. this is what we're going to see

now at least is what we're told we're going to see now. one example of this, suzanne, when you look at the hispanic community, they say that they're going to start sending people to naturalization ceremonies to try to get people who have just become citizens, explain to them why they should become republicans. >> are they changing any of their policies? i mean, you know, it sounds skeptical, but some people aren't part of the party because they don't believe in what the party believes. >> and that's what puts them in a very tricky position because the rnc is a political organization, not a policy organization. policy's supposed to come off of capitol hill. however, they do say that they need to loosen their rhetoric specifically on social issues. primarily when it comes to gay voters. and one of the reasons is because younger voters tend to be a little bit more open about gay issues. and that is very destructive or was very directive for republicans in the november election. if you look at the exit polling, obama just walked away with the real younger voters. republicans realized the future

of the party lies in the hands of the youth. this is one of the issues they have to be more accepting of. >> mark, great to see you as always. remind viewers to watch cnn's new show "the lead with jake tapper" starting to the at 4:00 eastern. and cnn picking brackets with you. the giant bracket board in the atlanta cnn headquarters. i'll show you my picks for march madness up next. i took something for my sinuses, but i still have this cough. [ male announcer ] a lot of sinus products don't treat cough. they don't? [ male announcer ] nope, but alka seltzer plus severe sinus does it treats your worst sinus symptoms, plus that annoying cough. [ breathes deeply ] ♪ oh, what a relief it is [ angry gibberish ] once you try an oral-b deep sweep power brush, you'll never want to go back. its dynamic power bristles reach between teeth to remove up to 76% more plaque than sonic in hard to reach areas. oral-b deep sweep 5000 power brush.

hot dog? i'm buying. i'll use my capital one venture card with double miles you can actually use to fly any airline anytime. ♪ what are you doing? i'm saving one for later. my body keeps it warm. it's like a little hot dog steamer in there. go ahead, touch my chest. no. ♪ what's in your wallet? you got any mustard in there? ♪ that music will get you going. march madness starting already. 68 teams vying for the big heest

prize. they're all set now. championship going to be decided right next door to cnn world headquarters right here, that is right, in the georgia dome. you can see here, this is a time lapse video in the atrium of the cnn center that they have built that huge ncaa bracket and you can join the bracket challenge, it is pretty cool. you can compare your picks with all of us, the cnn anchor choices, just logon to cnn.com slash brackets. rachel, you have to school me in all this. by the time we get to the end of the week, i'll be an expert. will this is almost as big as the super bowl especially if you're in on b-ball. so give us a sense of the seeds. >> certainly a better excuse to blow off work for the week. super bowl happens on sunday. this you can watch in your office. >> nice. >> a lot of fun for a lot of people. and that big banner you showed, the committee that picks the

seeding for that bracket, they had an extremely difficult time this year because this was such topsy-turvy season in college basketball. a lot of teams as soon as they get the number one ranking, it would seem like they lose it with a loss. so the committee chairman said they actually had six teams vying for the four number one seeds, but the four they ended up with, it's louisville, kansas, indiana, and gonzaga. louisville the overall number one top seed. but those are the favorites. those are the teams to beat. i do want to talk to you guys this afternoon about one of the more underdog team, st. louis. they won the atlantic 10 tournament, but weren't sure where they were going to be seeded. so they're going from brooklyn to an airport in new jersey where they would fly back home to st. louis. they were going to watch the selection show that aired at 6:00 p.m. in the airport. but of course traffic in new york, not going to let them do

what they wanted to do. so they had the bus pull over at a best buy right outside of the tunnel in manhattan to new jersey, stormed in the entire team in their team sweat shirt, gathered around the big tvs. you know how guys did, right? and watched where their team was going to play in the ncaa tournament. so i would say that the people of st. louis and the peopeople new jersey have the sympathy. nice story with this team. their coach unfortunately very respected guy, he died unfortunately in december. so this team has been playing in his memory. very nice moment for them to be able to make the tournament in his honor. and certainly an unusual way to do it, right? >> yeah. thanks, rachel. chad, would you ever crash in a best buy? >> absolutely. like the last three laps of a nascar race? of course i would. >> so what you got? >> i have ohio state going all

the way about that that's my pick. >> why? >> i think they'll beat wisconsin, but i have wisconsin going all the way even beating gonzaga. and then all of a sudden it gets down to who will be the best players -- who the best players will play on the last couple of games. and i think ohio state is now peaking. >> and this is me. i'm not an expert here, but i picked two of the top ones. rachel said louisville and indiana. i got them going up to the very end there 37. >> i like your pick of vcu, you have them going to the final four. i watched them play butt lettle. i was in richmond for a golf tournament raising money for fisher house and we watched vcu butler play and it was an amazing game and i think vcu is a very good team. >> so if you're going to bet, you're going to bet on my bracket, not yours. >> there is no money involved. you have to understand, this is a nonbetting issue. but please go to

cnn.com/brackets and pick out your brackets. we will look at some of the best in the entire country day by day and obviously look at ours. well not be the winning brackets. >> we'll pick this up tomorrow. all right. micha michael jackson's doctor, conrad murray, not taking the stand in the wrongful death trial. hear what the jackson family actually thinks about that up next. to meeting patient needs... ♪ wireless is limitless. [ female announcer ] from finding the best way... ♪ to finding the best catch... ♪ wireless is limitless.

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